Business forms, both continuous forms and sheet forms, that also carry one or more labels, have been widely used. One particularly popular type of label bearing form includes a first section that is provided with one or more labels backed with pressure-sensitive adhesive, and a second, adjacent section on which variable information may be printed and thus retained. This adjacent section may typically be made of material that differs from the label stock used for the adhesive backed labels. This permits the labels to be made from an optimal label material, and the information to be recorded on a different, more suitable material in the adjacent section.
In one such construction, conventional adhesive backed label stock on a release liner is adhered to conventional record keeping stock. A record bearing portion of the business form made of the record keeping stock is glued to the release liner by a line of glue extending along one edge of the release liner on the side thereof opposite the label stock. The record bearing portion can be formed of any suitable or desired material with this construction. In some processing equipment, this type of form can pose a difficulty because of the thickness of the form at the junction of the record or message bearing ply and the release liner. In particular, the thickness of the form at this location is equal to the sum of the thickness of the record or message bearing ply, the thickness of the release liner, the thickness of the label stock, the thickness of the pressure sensitive adhesive between the release liner and the label stock, and the thickness of the glue line adhering the release liner and the record or message bearing stock. This very thick portion of the form adds rigidity that can make processing the form on certain types of equipment difficult. In addition, in some cases, the thickness alone may tend to cause form components to hang up in automated processing equipment.
An improved business form having this type of construction is shown in U.S. Pat. No. RE. 33,616. The '616 patent teaches a continuous business form that includes an elongated ply of label stock of a desired width and having one side coated with a pressure sensitive adhesive. An elongated ply of release liner stock of the same width is engaged with the adhesive in such a way that the plies are laterally offset. Consequently, a narrow longitudinal strip of adhesive is exposed on the label stock ply and used to adhere the label stock ply to an elongated ply of record or message bearing stock. While this improved form eliminates the difficulties encountered with earlier forms resulting from the undue thickness of those forms, this improved form is subject to other problems. One problem encountered is the tendency for the form to separate at the narrow longitudinal adhesive strip. This separation might occur during printing or other machine processing and be total, in which case the form was ruined, and the equipment was jammed. Alternatively, the separation might be very minimal, resulting in no immediate damage to the printer or other equipment, but presenting the possibility that some adhesive from the label stock ply of a number of such business forms might migrate through the form separations and, over time, foul the equipment.
The present invention is directed to overcoming these above problems.